A tribe that vowed to stay out of gambling but then turned around and proposed a casino could face a tough approval process if legislation introduced Thursday by a pair of California lawmakers wins approval. The measure by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-Petaluma) would give federal authorities and Sonoma County foes more scrutiny of a gambling resort planned by the Coast Miwok on a 2,000-acre swath on the northern edge of San Francisco Bay.

Max Baer Jr. has gone to court in an effort to build his proposed $54-million Beverly Hillbillies Mansion & Casino in a Carson City, Nev., shopping center he shares with the Glenbrook Co. and J.C. Penney. Plans for the casino include a 200-foot flaming oil derrick, 30,000-square-foot casino with 800 slot machines and 16 game tables, a 240-room hotel and restaurants -- all keying on "The Beverly Hillbillies" TV series, in which Baer played Jethro Bodine.

Seeking to expand its presence on the famed Las Vegas Strip, Hilton Hotels Corp. has held preliminary negotiations to buy the Barbary Coast casino, a tiny gambling operation prized for its location at one of the gambling capital's most prominent intersections. Executives from Beverly Hills-based Hilton met a few weeks ago with Barbary Coast's owners, Coast Resorts Inc. of Las Vegas, said Coast Resorts President Harlam Braaten. Hilton would not confirm any discussions.

It's been one fight after another since the Chumash Indians began expanding their gambling casino here. The casino has been criticized as an eyesore. County officials have said it should contribute more -- up to a few million dollars -- to offset increased costs to the community. Then local leaders started questioning whether the tribe should be allowed to serve wine in a fancy steakhouse it plans to add to its growing casino. Tribal Chairman Vincent Armenta decided enough was enough.

A small Huntington Park casino, the target of a criminal investigation, filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Act just as county officials moved to collect $400,000 in delinquent property taxes and penalties, officials said Monday. Huntington Park Club Operations Ltd., part owner and operator of the Huntington Park Casino, owes its 20 largest creditors $610,382, according to the bankruptcy petition filed Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles.

Former Golden Nugget Inc. executive Alfred Luciani has been appointed to run Merv Griffin's financially troubled Resorts International Casino Hotel. The announcement came at the same time disgruntled bondholders were deciding whether to file a lawsuit forcing New Jersey's first gaming company into involuntary bankruptcy.

Nearly 200 ATMs in casinos and strip clubs have been removed from the network that allows access to California welfare benefits, and the ban may be extended to bingo halls, racetracks, gun stores and massage parlors, state officials said Friday. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said ATMS had been removed from 200 casinos and strip clubs. The announcement follows Times reports that millions of dollars have been withdrawn from welfare accounts at gambling establishments and adult clubs with debit cards issued to people on state aid. The cash, meant to help the needy feed and clothe their families, was dispensed at casinos and poker rooms at a rate of more than $227,000 per month between October and May, state officials have acknowledged.

Donald J. Trump got to keep control of his two strongest Atlantic City casinos Thursday, but New Jersey regulators reserved judgment on the Trump Castle until next week, saying they wanted more financial information. Trump also got a rude shock from Castle bondholders Thursday, with at least a quarter of the debtors saying they would try and push the casino into bankruptcy rather than accept the developer's terms to stay afloat.

An Apache casino reopened two months after it was forced to close or face government seizure of its gambling equipment. Three federal court rulings in the past year have found that 11 Indian casinos in New Mexico were illegal because the state-tribal compacts authorizing them were invalid. The Mescalero casino was the first to shut down in the face of a threat by U.S. Atty. John Kelly to seize its slot machines, gaming tables and other equipment and bank accounts. The U.S.

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians has obtained $140 million in bank financing to build a $95-million casino in Palm Springs and repay construction loans for the Rancho Mirage gambling hall it opened in 2001, attorneys for the tribe said.